#SWITCHERS and 2MB BOARDS
23 messages in this thread
I'm about to upgrade to Release 2 of workbench and ran into a problem when
I decided to get a ROM Switcher and 2Meg Agnus board. After reading some
of the discussions on these subjects, the playing field has new players.
So my question is how does the following compare to DKB equivalent
products:
ROM SWITCHERS
=============
ICD KICKBACK (NEW)
SWICTH-ITT
BLACK KNIGHT KICKMAGIC (NEW)
2MB AGNUS BOARD
===============
BLACK KNIGHT TOP CHIP (NEW) – W/2MB ON BOARD
If you have any comments on these products please let me know!
Thanks,
Rico D. Walker
– via Whap!
Rico,
I can't help you, but I have a question. How much is the Black Knight Top
Chip with the 2-Meg Agnus, and where did you see it advertised?
I have DKB's MultiStart II and have been very satisfied with it. I didn't
get their 2-Meg Agnus board because I felt it was way overpriced. I was
waiting for the price to come down. Now that there's competition, maybe
Dean from DKB will lower the price. If he does, I would advise getting the
DKB board because their products are of the highest quality and the company
has a great reputation. I believe DKB has skimmed the market long enough
now, and a price reduction is in order.
Good luck.
Dom Fontana
Dominick,
They are advertising in the August issue of Amiga World page 108 and
this is how it reads:
Top Chip puts your A500/A2000 on the road to A3000 graphic power… TC
is a 2Mb Chip ram expander for your A500 or A2000. The miniscule unit
(2.5" X 1.7") fits all versions of the A500/A2000 tested to date, and is
physically & electrically compatible with KickMagic. TC plugs in with no
need to cut traces or solder wires. TC is software switchable between 0.5,
1 & 2Mb of Chip RAM. TC comes with 2Mb on board… Price $199 including
2Mb RAM excluding 2Mb Agnus. 2Mb Agnus $65.
Black Knight Peripherals 255 W. Moana #207 Reno NV 89509 Tel: (702)
827-8088 Fax: (702) 827-8099
You're right about the high prices of DKB board almost $300 and only has
1MB on board instead of 2MB. But only time will tell.
Rico D. Walker
– via Whap!
Rico,
I won't comment much on the Top Chip board as to the best of my
knowledge it is not yet a real product. If they actually put 2Meg of RAM on
the board, they are wasting money since the 1Meg on the motherboard is
usable. Software switchable memory sizes is also not very useful, we
haven't found any software yet that doesn't work with 2Meg of CHIP RAM.
The MegAChip is now being sold with the 2Meg Agnus installed at the
factory. Because of this there is no longer a problem getting the Agnus.
Also the price has changed to $349.95 complete. As this is suggested retail
price you can get it cheaper at your local dealer.
Dean
DKB Software
Dean,
That's good news about selling the MegAChip with the 2Meg Agnus and you
did lower the price. I'm going to call the Grapevine Group to see what
their selling price is.
Dom Fontana
Dean,
One reason for having 2 megs on the Black Knight board could be the "chip
ram accelerator" that Black Knight mentions in their ad…
Jonathan
– via Whap!
Jonathan,
If you mean the same press release I saw, that accellerator is a
completely different board. There have been a number of different companies
talking about such a product for at least 1 1/2 years, but no one to date
has actually demonstrated one. There are a number of different ways to
accomplish this accelleration, but none of them is really reliable without
replacing the Agnus with a new custom chip. This dosen't mean it can't be
done, just that getting a reliable design is _not_ going to be easy.
Dean
DKB Software
Thanks Dean for your input.
I'm ordering the Agnus board this week. The new version, is it
compatible with the older board 4.5 and lower? I think I have a revision
4.4. Also, What version number of your board I should ask for? I have
always looked for quality in products and I'm sure your products have that.
Have you heard anything about ICD Switcher KickBack?
Thanks
Rico D. Walker
– Shaking in L.A.!
Rico,
We are only selling one version at this time. We have a few of the older
versions left but they are for very special circumstances. What we sell now
is what you need, so no special versions are needed.
Regarding the KickBack, I've heard of it but not seen it. Until I do see
it I'm not qualified to comment.
Dean
DKB Software
Dean,
Is there any difference in the latest batch of Megachip boards as
compared to the beta test board I bought from you in the early stages of
development?
It seems to work fine, I'm just wondering if there were any improvements?
chris
Chris,
There are no functional differences. The original design was a 4 x 6.5
inch board using standard through hole technology. The current board is a
2.25 x 2 inch surface mount design. The major reason for going with the
surface mount design is so that one design MegAChip board would work in
A2000's A500's and CDTV's. The original would only fit in the A2000.
Dean
DKB Software
Dean, Thanks for the info on the MegaChip design. I always liked surface
mount technology.
chris
Dean,
I just bought the Multistart and really enjoy it. Although I got one of
the older one without the ribbon cable, it works fine. Since I do not use
any boards that plug into the CPU socket. Now I just have to decide if my
next purchase will be MegAChip or a CD-ROM Drive. Thanks for the help!
Rico D. Walker
– Shaking in L.A.!
Rico,
Thanks for the info. I just got my August issue of AW, so I'll check it
out.
Dom Fontana
Dominick,
Skimmed the market??? That quality you mention has its costs. Costs that
end up being passed on to the consumer. Support also has a price, we
provide the support, so the costs again must be passed on.
FYI, look back at the Amiga market since the Amiga was released. Note
that most all of the developers that provided extremely low prices also are
no longer in business. What happens to the consumer when that happens?
Dean
DKB Software
Dean,
Ah, isn't competition wonderful?
I hope my message didn't upset you. When a new product comes out, you're
supposed to skim the market. I didn't mean anything derogatory by that
statement. All I meant was that a company usually charges top dollar for a
new product, especially when it's the first of its kind. The people that
really want the product right away will pay top dollar for it. That's
called "skimming the market." After time, when sales slow down because the
product has saturated the market an its initial price point, and also
possibly due to competing products, a company will usually lower its price
on the product. That's all I meant.
Dom Fontana
Donimick,
You got your wish, as the price did come down. It wasn't because of
competition but because our costs came down. The so called competition I'm
not worried about, so far as I can tell the product is vapour. I saw thier
press releases some time ago but nobody has yet seen product.
Dean
DKB Software
Dean,
I'd like your opinion. I do like your products and want to get the
MegAChip board from the Grapevine Group.
If I get it with the 2Meg Agnus, will I have everything I need for the
upgrade? I have an A2500 with 1Meg chip and 10Megs Fast Ram at the present
time.
Do you recommend installing the MegAChip myself? Gravevine includes a
special Agnus chip puller with the purchase.
I know the MegaChip comes with docs, but briefly what is the installation
procedure? Do I just remove the 1Meg Agnus, insert the MegAChip with the
2Meg Agnus and that's it? I believe then that should give me 2Megs Chip and
I'll still retain my 10Megs Fast Ram. Is that corect?
Thanks fo all your help.
Dom Fontana
Dominick,
If you get the MegAChip with the Agnus installed, you have everything
you need except the installation. Installation is not complicated, just one
part is difficult and could cause you problems, removing the original Agnus
from the motherboard. This requires a special tool and preferable some
experience in doing the removal. For this reason we _strongly_ suggest you
have the installation done by an Amiga technician. The puller that
Grapevine supplies is a very cheap, modified DIP chip puller. That puller
has caused us no end of service calls due to people trashing the Agnus
socket on the motherboard with it. Please do NOT use it. We sell the proper
tool for the job if you need it for $15.95 +S&H.
To install the MegAChip all you need do is to open your machine, remove
the power supply and drive cage. (to get at the Agnus) Remove the old Agnus
from it's socket, plug the MegAChip in, and connect one clip-on jumper
wire. If you are installing the MegAChip into a machine that had a 512K
Agnus, then there will be a jumper change on the motherboard and possibly a
trace cut depending upon the version of your motherboard. The changes are
the same ones needed to upgrade to a 1Meg Agnus. The documentation covers
it all in a step by step format. If needed, support is a phone call away.
The MegAChip brings your machine upto 2Meg of CHIP ram and doesn't
change what you have installed for FAST ram 'unless' you upgraded from a
512K Agnus. In that case your FAST ram is reduced by 512K which is
converted into CHIP ram. The FAST ram memory size is 8Meg added to your
2Meg of CHIP gives you 10Meg total.
Dean
DKB Software
Dean,
Thanks for the info. I'll call my service center to see what they charge
for the MegAChip installation. If it's cheap enough, they'll do it. If not,
I'll order your chip puller.
Right now, I have 11-Megs. 1-Meg chip, 8-Megs on my GVP 68030 Combo Board
(32-bit) and 2-megs on my GrandSlam (16-bit). So after, the installation,
I'll have 12-Megs: 2 Chip, 2 16-bit, and 8 32-bit, right?
Dom Fontana
Dominick,
Correct. You must have some, or possibly all of the GVP combo memory
configured as above 24 address space. This should work fine.
We have a machine that we have set up to run with 2Meg CHIP, 4Meg 16bit,
and 68Meg of 32bit FAST ram using the 2632 memory board connected to an
A2630. That system is not even maxed out yet since we could add an
additional 48Meg of 32bit FAST ram yet. We have no problems at all with
this type of configuration.
Dean
DKB Software
Great, Dean. Thanks for your help.
Dom Fontana